Lakers forward Matt Barnes served his one-game suspension for the altercation he got into on Thursday with Dallas’ Jason Terry and, at the time, Barnes—often a magnet for on-court fisticuffs because of his physical nature—hardly seemed remorseful for his actions. Shortly after he was ejected from the Dallas game, Barnes’ clothing company, Elusion Clothing, released a T-shirt reading, “Matt Barnes will kill you if Ron Artest doesn’t first.”

But on Saturday, with the Lakers hot on the trail of the Spurs in the race for the Western Conference’s top playoff seed, Barnes acknowledged he needs to tone down his antics.

“Down the stretch, we’ve shown you’re not going to come in our house and push us around,” Barnes told reporters. “But for myself and the rest of the team, we know we can't afford to get kicked out of games or give teams free shots on technical fouls. Just got to do that in a more controlled manner, I guess.”

Barnes, signed as a free agent in the offseason, has been a key reserve for the Lakers, averaging 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in 19.5 minutes. He missed eight weeks after having knee surgery in January, but is expected to be an important contributor in the postseason.